Public record law tested by the media

DENVER — Want to know what your local planning commission has been up to? It’s easy and free in many places, but be prepared to go through the city attorney’s office to get meeting minutes if you happen to live in, say, Sterling.

How about e-mail messages sent between a school superintendent and school board members? Be ready for even more suspicion or even rude treatment. Be patient, too: Many districts send such requests through their staff attorney who will want to know what the information will be used for.

Colorado’s public records law is fairly simple. With some exceptions for personnel or proprietary commercial information, the public is entitled to see any record — on paper or otherwise — made, maintained or kept by any public entity for use in carrying out its duties or involving the receipt or spending of public money.

Yet the way Colorado local government agencies handle public records requests varies sharply, according to a statewide survey conducted by 23 newspaper members of The Associated Press and Colorado Press Association during the summer.

The results show that obtaining records can be an intimidating and disheartening process for members of the public, said Ed Otte, executive director of the CPA.

“Although this project was organized by the Colorado Press Association and The Associated Press, the intent was to show how easy or difficult it is for the public to access public records,” Otte said.

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The survey included requests for records in 21 counties from the Western Slope to the eastern Plains. To request the records over two days in June, newspapers recruited members of the public, interns and reporters who identified themselves when asked.

In some places, recruits had no problems. For example, the Gypsum town manager’s office turned over travel expenses, no questions asked and no fee charged.

But some of the requests were met with resistance and suspicion.

Amy Maestas, who checked for records from Durango city and La Plata County agencies, said she had expected some resistance. But she was surprised at the confusion or rudeness demonstrated by officials when she asked for records concerning a day care center and for e-mail messages between the Durango School District 9-R superintendent and board members.

Maestas, who was unemployed at the time she sought records but now is a copy editor for the Durango Herald, said local officials referred her to the state government for the day care center records. The response took three weeks.

“I’m not a parent, but I can certainly understand some level of frustration that parents would go through trying to get their child into day care, needing that information to make such a critical decision,” she said.

Elsewhere, a recruit who asked for e-mail messages between the Steamboat Springs School District superintendent and school board members said she was laughed at before she was peppered with questions. The request was eventually routed through the district’s attorneys.

Agencies can set reasonable rules for handling their records, but the bottom line is that as long as a record is readily available — generally meaning not in storage or in active use — it must be made available for inspection immediately, said Tom Kelley and Steve Zansberg, two Denver attorneys who specialize in media law.

Court rulings and a 2001 attorney general’s opinion say people asking for public records don’t have to identify themselves. And they don’t have to tell the agency why they want the information, the attorneys said. Still, nothing in the law specifically prevents record-keepers from seeking information about who is asking for certain records or why.

“They certainly can ask the questions, but you’re entitled to refuse to answer, and if they refuse to disclose the records, I think they’re violating your rights,” Kelley said.